02 December 2021 – Vietnam Country Level Event

Part I. Framing & Knowledge Sharing

Peter Oborn from the UKBEAG welcomed those present, invited them to make introductions and provided an overview of the event. UN Habitat Local Strategic Adviser Mr Thai Son Pham offered introductory remarks about the local context. Mr Le Hoan, Deputy Director of Management Centre of Public Transport (MCPT) of Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) gave a short presentation on Development of a SMART ticketing system in HCMC, being led by the Department of Transport and the Management Centre of Public Transport. Ms Phan Pham Thah Trang, Head of R&D and Community of Infrastructure Management Centre (IMC) of Ho Chi Minh City gave a short presentation on Development of a digitised inventory of the drainage system in HCMC being led by the Department of Construction and the Infrastructure Management Centre.

Part II. Moving from Data to Action

Ms Victoria Delbridge, Head of Cities that Work, International Growth Centre gave a short framing presentation on moving from data to action. Mr Ben Snaith, Researcher, Open Data Institute gave a presentation on the merits of open data. Mr Nathan Pierce, Head of Smart London Team and Programme Director of Sharing Cities, Greater London Authority, contributed to the discussion.

Part III. Delivering Effective Integrated & Inclusive Planning

Mr Jörn Peters, Principal Strategic Planner and Ms Ei-Lyn Chia, Principal Urban Designer, Greater London Authority gave a presentation on the process of integrated strategic planning in London.

Key Takeaways:

• Broadly, for the integration of service delivery in Ho Chi Minh City, an overarching vision for the city would benefit from greater alignment. Currently, key policy areas, such as housing and climate change, are administered under different plans by different institutions. There appears to be no unified, single city plan, and this can result in disparate areas of city governance adopting divergent pathways. This contrasts with other cities, such as London, where development guided by the London Plan, which sets out a long-term strategy for the city. The absence of such a vision may limit the effectiveness of public services.
• The economic benefits of more effective sharing of data, or open data, are significant. While standards linked to data are necessary, they are not sufficient. Ho Chi Minh City would benefit from developing its own data strategy one that is city-specific. This should include creating and optimising its own data sets and data usage. Generally, there is a need for regularly updated data that can provide information for decision making. With better data provision, as is evident from the case of the Greater London Authority, implementation and monitoring of interventions can occur more effectively’. One such discussed and desired area was the use of operational data to develop aligned service schedules to complement the smart ticketing system.
• The geographical information system for the drainage system, and its potential to inform interventions when flooding happens in the city, is an opportunity to crowd in and integrate the activity of departments. With a coordinated system, policy decision-makers can anticipate and account for spillovers to neighbourhoods or areas that are typically outside their mandate.